What's Next? Hard to say...

Greystone is a well oiled machine. Our days are carefully considered well in advance, with every preparation made in order to assure a good outcome. Generally, this work pays off… but Thunderstorms change everything!

We had prepared for a wonderful Queens Ball evening… then a big thunderstorm hit the camp during Rest Hour. This is not unusual (it has happened every day this week), but this time we lost power. We have a generator in the office for just such moments, so the phone system and internet were not impacted… but camp is very dependent on steady power and we notice the loss immediately. Our water system loses pressure (a big deal because our toilets are pressure driven “power flush” models). We use Rennai “Endless” hot water units (mounted on the exterior of the cabin they are a big improvement on the old gas fired 75 gallon units)… but they are controlled by electricity… no hot water. We even feared for our water reservoir (we drain the reservoir in about 10 hours if the water pump is not running). Lights, PA system, pool chemicals and filters… the list is very long.

Duke Energy told us to expect no power until 8:30 PM. Fortunately, Gervais had made plans to give his cooks the night off and had prepared our Pork Tenderloin dinner prior to the 3:30 outage (we have a very fancy oven that makes such timing possible). We could cook everything else on the gas braziers and eat on paper… food check. We ran a long extension cable to the office to run the PA, connected a portable generator to the pavilion to run its PA and some basic lights and connected a bunch of LED battery lights to the paper lanterns (with an army of men staff helping) to make sure our Queens Ball would be able to go in the dark. Basically, we got on with business… but the girls took the opportunity to have fun.

A power outage is a very exciting moment for the campers. The energy of the campers went through the roof… my favorite moments had to do with the youngest and oldest girls in camp.

Tentalow 1 decided a power outage was the perfect opportunity to make their own haunted house. They closed the shades, put on scary make-up, and gave free haunted house tours to anyone who walked by. I have to say… it actually was pretty thrilling! They were laughing and screaming so loud we could hear them at the pool.

Meanwhile the Castle girls were getting cleaned up for queens ball. They took cold showers in their cabin but were unable to dry their hair, so they came down to the office and went up to my house to make their final preparations (yes, my house has a generator as well… guilt). They were laughing and jostling around having a blast. It looked like it was much more fun than an ordinary power filled day.

The Senior Night Queens Ball was wonderful… the power came on just before we began the show (7:15!!!) and it proved to be an enchanting evening. Porter Grant was crowned Queen and her “Maids” were Landon Holt and Carson Creasy. The Court was announced (Tate Sieber, Peyton Patterson, Elizabeth Raby, Chandler Massey, Caroline Penland, Martha Nixon, Sarah Bowron, Caroline Miller, Caroline Bullock, Madeline Lansing, Grace Stewart, and Virginia McNeill) and the evening was over. After the show Margaret hosted a party for the Seniors in White Hall, complete with a ton of snack food and a devotion. It really was a nice night. The girls are wearing their Silver Charms today… it is very sweet.

We expect today to be a wonderful sunny day, a stormy rest hour, and a glorious evening for our Junior Play “The Little Princess”. The play will be fabulous (I know because the June Camp production was fabulous… and we have had lots more time and talent available for Main Camp). I love the Drama department, have performed in my share of plays back in the High School days, and can appreciate the process deeply. The girls are VERY excited about the show tonight and the big production of Peter Pan next week… the back drops are all painted, the props are carefully arranged back stage, costumes are assembled by character and well organized in the dressing room… it is a wonderful process to behold!

Breakfast was light today… steel cut oatmeal, brown sugar, blueberries… we offer this combo every day on othe fruit bar (not the brown sugar) but the big batch does taste different (in a good way).

Lunch is ham and cheese sandwiches… we do really fantastic sandwiches with very fresh ingredients.

Dinner is a Thanksgiving Feast! This was one of the favorite “theme” meals last year. We only do it for Main Camp, because we do so much work to make it special. Think of all the food that goes onto the table during Thanksgiving… we do that. After a light breakfast and lunch, it will be perfect!

Thank you again for the support and encouragement. At this point in the summer the excitement around the camp lifts us up enough to ignore the fatigue that will hit later. We are having a blast. This is REALLY FUN, but also really hard work. Do take a moment to write your girls counselor a note of thanks if you get the chance. A letter sent this week will be timed perfectly… and will mean a lot.

Jimboy